Creepshow 4K UHD Review: 4Kreepshow

The Creepshow 4K is not a crapshow! Scream Factory upgraded their special edition of the Stephen King/George Romero horror anthology and the clarity is unreal.

When they do the comic book paneling effect, it is optical layers. When they cut to first generation negative, you can immediately see how clear 4K can look. And in those panel shots, the color border is vivid in the center of pure black space on screen. The actual animation is gorgeous too.

The film has some more aesthetic effects that reproduce well in 4K, like the red light shining in the graveyard when Nathan rises from the grave. In the last story, the white room is nice and sterile to be overrun by roaches.

Creepshow has lots of surround effects for your speakers too, from thunder and gunshots, to the meteor whizzing by and Nathan calling, “Where’s my cane.” Seagulls on the beach create an ominous ambiance for the best story in the film.

Scream Factory also included all the bonus features they produced for their Collector’s Edition, and legacy bonus features including Romero’s commentary and more commentary and interviews with behind the scenes talent. If you buy it from Shout Factory you can also get some new collectible artwork too!

Carrie 4K UHD Review – Tele4kinesis

The opening titles for Carrie show the grainy ‘70s film you remember. That’s still there, but once the superimposed titles end, the film shifts to true 4K aesthetic.

It looks stark in the locker room with the bullies all dressed in colors and poor Carrie pale and screaming for help. Brian De Palma’s split diopter effect really works in 4K keeping both foreground and background characters in 4K focus.

The high dynamic range makes the shadows in the closet Carrie’s mom locks her in deep and rich. Likewise in the attic in their final confrontation after prom.

The crisp dark night is also apparent in Billy Nolan (John Travolta)’s car, in the dark pig farm and in the rafters setting up the bucket. A candlelit dinner between Carrie and her mom is especially striking. The candles create an oval of light surrounded by dark, barely illuminating Piper Laurie and Sissy Spacek.

The prom is tinted red like hell. The flames glow during Carrie’s rampage and the caked crimson blood highlights her body.

Flying objects look clean. There are no visible wires. At least until she impales her mom. They left a wire sticking out when it’s already embedded.

A DTS mix mostly comes out in the finale. Some of the “they’re all gonna laugh at you” and other whispers hit the surrounds. As it ramps up, fire engine sirens and the house creaking and collapsing also fill the rears.

Sneak Peek Into The IT CHAPTER TWO Experience in Hollywood (CLICK TO WATCH)

In celebration of IT Chapter Two , We took a trip to Hollywood to check out THE IT EXPERIENCE CHAPTER TWO. The event is still under construction but here’s a first look!

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FREE RSVP HERE https://www.theitexperiencechaptertwo… The Derry Canal Days Festival has arrived in Los Angeles! Your cherished memories of the old carnival days will be turned inside out during the 40-minute spine-tingling experience. There will be over 10 immersive and terrifying interactive spaces, giving visitors a glimpse into the upcoming film. The event is 18+ but those aged 17 will be allowed in with a parent, guardian or responsible adult. Your cherished memories of the old carnival days will be turned inside out during this 40-minute spine tingling experience. There will be over 10 immersive and terrifying interactive spaces, giving visitors a glimpse into the upcoming film!

IT Chapter 2 #ItChapterTwo #stephenking #pennywise #It

PET SEMATARY 2019 Blu-ray Review

PET SEMATARY 2019 Blu-ray Review

The Movie

Synopsis

Dr. Louis Creed and his wife, Rachel, relocate from Boston to rural Maine with their two young children. The couple soon discovers a mysterious burial ground hidden deep in the woods near their new home. When tragedy strikes, Louis turns to his neighbor Jud Crandall, setting off a perilous chain reaction that unleashes an unspeakable evil with horrific consequences.

Directed By: Kevin Kölsch & Dennis Widmyer

Written By: Stephen King, Matt Greenberg, & Jeff Buhler

Starring: Jason Clarke (Louis), Amy Seimetz (Rachel), John Lithgow (Jud), Jeté Laurence (Ellie), Hugo Lavoie (Gage), Lucas Lavoie (Gage), Obssa Ahmed (Victor Pascow), Alyssa Brooke Levine (Zelda), Maria Herrera (Marcella), and more.

Genre: Horror, Mystery, & Thriller

Rating: R

Runtime: Approx. 100 Minutes

Blu-ray Details

Audio

  • English: Dolby Atmos
  • English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
  • German: Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
  • French: Dolby Digital 5.1
  • French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1

Video

  • Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
  • Resolution: 1080p
  • Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
  • Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
  • Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, & Swedish

Special Features

  • All-New Alternate Ending
  • 7 Deleted/Extended Scenes
  • Night Terrors- Family Haunting Vision
  • Over 90 Minutes of Bonus Content

My Thoughts

I give the Pet Sematary Blu-ray a B.

I was a little leery about this film as a remake (well, more of a reimagining) because usually these films end up as a disaster.  Especially with a film that is considered a popular horror classic.  But I watched it with an open mind and enjoyed it.  It wasn’t the greatest horror film I have ever seen but I did have fun.  Just keep in mind, in Pet Sematary 2019 they switched things around from its 1989 Counterpart. Hence making this film more of a reimaging of the film rather than a remake.

There are a few things I really liked about this film.  Anyone who knows me, knows I’m like a crazy cat lady.  I absolutely love seeing the cat or cats (I believe there were four: Leo, JD, Jaeger, & Tonic) who played Church on screen.  It’s amazing what animals are capable of doing.  Sadly about a month ago, one the cats (Leo) passed away from a condition that is prone to the breed.

Jeté Laurence who plays Elle did a wonderful job in the film.  Whenever a child actor is involved, I am always impressed with their performances.  She has an amazing gift and I hope to see her in more films in the future.  It had to be super fun playing a girl that comes back from the dead!

I always have fun watching horror films whether they are good or bad. Though the storyline for this film was ok.  There were elements I did enjoy within this film and I had fun watching it.

Catch Pet Sematary 2019 out on 4k, Blu-ray, & Digital July 9th!

Sleepwalkers Blu-ray Review

Stephen King’s Sleepwalkers is the classic tale of a pair of incestuous soul suckers who get killed by cats. They don’t make ‘em like this anymore, but the new Scream Factory Blu-ray makes sure their story will last for generations to come.

The Columbia Pictures source must’ve been great because Sleepwalkers looks good even by Shout Factory’s high standards. It’s perfectly clear while retaining the film look. It’s a rare horror movie with a lot of daylight, and all the natural Midwest outdoorsy greenery is bright and detailed. And you can see all the detail in the creature and gore makeup. Actually, when Brian Krause cuts his arm you can clearly see the prosthetic portion hiding the blood pack, but it’s good. Highlight the artist’s’ work.

It’s so great seeing the early ‘90s Aero Theater preserved in HD. It’s actually in Santa Monica and the box office area and marquee are still the same. The lobby and concession stand are different now (no more Slush and the popcorn machine is on the other side now) but I can tell it’s the same layout with the stairs in the back. I can’t believe they had an arcade machine, but yeah a movie theater would in the ‘90s. It is also the setting for a gratuitous Walkman dance as was also common in the ‘90s.

Tanya Robertson was an interesting name for the heroine. If they remake it maybe they can call her Pamela Andersonson. Mick Garris and Madchen Amick joke about Tanya Roberts at the beginning of the commentary so I’m not alone.

On the commentary, Amick has a vivid memory and is very talkative, so it’s mostly her and Garris. Krause chimes in, just not as often. He reveals a bit more in his interview. Big news: Amick was fired from Dracula because they let go everyone who wasn’t British. Excuse me, what about Keanu Reeves? Or Winona Ryder for that matter. Alice Krige has unique memories in her interview too and all the behind the scenes interviews are thorough as usual.

It Blu-Ray Review: These Bonus Features Float

The town of Derry, 1989, is perfectly clear on Blu-ray to see all the terror in HD. You can see all the cracks and crust in the Pennywise makeup, and his gooey drool. Neibolt house is as decrepit as it gets when the kids go traipsing through it.

Even if they’re only doing half an 1100 page book, not everything made the cut. There are some good deleted scenes that explore more of the parents and the pressure they put on the kids. Stanley’s Bar Mitzvah speech is deep. The bullies have a much darker ending.

A Pennywise feature does a good job of letting Bill Skarsgard explain his process. They really delay the moment of the kids seeing him, even though it’s only 15 minutes of screen time.

The Losers Club bonus feature is about the kids. They speak articulately and some behind the scenes footage shows them goofing off.

The Stephen King interview is the most informative. He shared some inspirations I wasn’t aware of.

Stephen King’s It Interviews

At the press junket for It, Nerd Report got to talk to Pennywise actor Bill Skarsgard, director Andy Muschietti, screenwriter Gary Dauberman and producers Seth Graeme Smith and David Katzenberg. Here are their answers to some of the questions we know Stephen King fans have about this long-awaited movie adaptation.

Getting Stephen King’s Approval

DK: Getting his stamp of approval, we finally took a breath when we got his approval.

SGS: We screened this movie for him and we got his reaction. At this point it was like okay, well no matter what else happens, we’re good.

DK: He watched a rough cut early on when we were back in editorial. Honestly, I remember exactly the day when we got the feedback. He sent a really sweet e-mail to Andy. He put a message up on his board and he tweeted out that he was extremely pleased. For us it was just a huge weight off our shoulders. We spent so much time and energy getting this movie right and keeping the integrity of the book, essentially trying to please him and the fans that it really meant a lot.

SGS: That is the one thing I would not have been able to surmount. If he had been disappointed or had even just not been enthusiastic, then I would’ve been moping in front of you right now. Getting his stamp of approval as it were, high watermark of the process for me. I can deal with anything that happens from this point on. I pleased the maestro. I had some small part of playing in this adaptation that he’s pleased with, so I’ll take it.

GD: There’s huge pressure, a lot of anxiety and a lot of sleepless nights. I’m writing this, I’m looking at my bookshelves, and they’re all around my house. My wife’s from Maine and Christ, I’m never going to be able to go visit there again if this thing gets f***ed up. So I’m looking around the house and I’m going, “If this thing’s over, am I just going to have to pull all the books down because I just don’t want to be reminded. If he comes out and says he hates it, I’m just going to have to sit there and live with that for the rest of my life.” I was on location scout for The Nun in the heart of Transylvania, and we got a text. Fortunately they did not tell me he was seeing the movie. Thanks for not telling me because I couldn’t deal with that. They told me after and told me he loved it, or whatever he said. I could finally breathe again. When it comes down to it, yes, I want my family to like it. Yes, I want you guys to like it but him, he was the most important to me. The pressure was there. The pressure is real.

The Tim Curry Factor

BS: I think the way we approached it was this is our new take on it. I think for my part, I’m going to do two very different things. I’m going to do my interpretation and my performance as Pennywise. Also with Andy, just with him designing the look and everything it’s just a completely different, new take on it. I do think that it’s so different, you can be into both things without them having to interfere. Andy might be better to answer this, but even in casting me as the role, we weren’t trying to do this middle-aged Pennywise that Tim Curry did so well. We’re doing something different.

AM: Absolutely. I had a sketch. I did a few sketches of the look of Pennywise and it was already like something else. It’s like Gerber baby hair and his eyes are wall-eyed. Little did I know that he can do that.

DK: We were never trying to outdo Tim Curry. We knew we needed to bring something fresh and new and re-imagine what our Pennywise was going to be. Andy came in with these little sketches of horseshoes essentially. We didn’t know quite what they were but they eventually turned into the mouth and went through the eyes. Early on, Andy had these visions in terms of what Pennywise’s voice would sound like. He worked with Bill hours and hours, really getting the mannerisms and the facial features.

SGS: We all agreed Tim Curry’s performance is iconic. We’re going to do something different. We’re going to try to put our own stamp on it and then Bill and Andy, in the casting process he singled out Bill pretty early on as I remember and started having him come back and doing more reads and working with him already, refining the character and refining the facial expressions and refining the physicality and refining the voice. That continued through production. We were all kids the first month but Bill was in Toronto, not shooting. He and Andy would meet and Bill would sit there and look in his mirror and practice voices.

They Did Not Hire The Real Clowns Who’ve Popped Up

SGS: We’ve caught so many lucky breaks in this. Two years ago when people started clowns all of a sudden, which by the way was not us. We had nothing to do with it.

DK: We did hear from a lot of people, “Hey, great viral long lead marketing.” No, no, no, no, that’s not us scaring kids in the woods.

Playing Pennywise

BS: As an actor, mostly when I do films, it’s the director’s film and you go in and do a scene and the director goes, “Try this.” And you do the scene and then he goes, “Okay good” and you’re like all right, great. I usually don’t feel a need to go, “Can I go and look at how that looks?” With this one, I had no idea what anything looked like. I didn’t know what my face with the makeup on looks like and how it translates onto the screen. So for the first time, I was much more curious to see what it was that we were doing. The studio wouldn’t give me any access to the dailies but Andy would, like, “Okay, here you go. You can look at the dailies.” So I would sit and study what we already shot because I felt for this role it was important to see what I was doing and how it translated to the screen. All the things that I thought about with Andy and talked about with Andy, that that translates onto the screen with all the makeup and all the things and looks and contacts and everything. Even the first screen test we did as well, I was like, “Oh, okay.” It’s such a technical and important aspect of the character. Andy would show me things and you could go, “Do this exact same thing but there.” These minor differences of how the light hits and the face and the chin, it really reads as the visual impact of the character. So it was really important for me to understand that aspect of it.

You Don’t Have To Read The Book, But You Should Anyway

GD: I’m never going to not recommend someone read the book. I don’t think you need to read the book to understand the movie at all. The movie’s it’s unique experience. I think the book is a unique experience. I think everybody should experience both.

It’s About The Kids

DK: Andy was one of the very few directors that came in that really solely focused on the kids, on the children. We already knew at that point that we were going to break the movie into two parts essentially, because we could not jam everything into one feature. Andy came in right away. Rather than talk about Pennywise the clown, scares, stuff that a lot of other directors came in talking about, he really focused on the kids. For us, that was always the seminal part of the movie that we needed to get right.

SGS: What impressed us was he came in talking about being a 13-year-old in Argentina and reading the translation of the book and how it affected him. He came in and he locked into the relationships of these kids and how important it was to get the kids right. That was music to our ears because the movie we referenced most in the last six plus years has been Stand By Me. We wanted to recapture in that relationship that feeling that we felt watching that movie, of that camaraderie of that sense of time and place. If that didn’t work, that didn’t matter how cool the clown was and how scary the other stuff was, it was never really going to resonate the way that we wanted it to resonate emotionally. It’s already tough you’re making a rated R movie, and we were never going to flinch off that, starring 13-year-old kids. So they’ve gotta be strong, they’ve gotta be charismatic, you’ve got to believe those relationships. That really is what won Andy the job. He came in focused on that first. Everything else came into place to support that.

The Locations

GD: I won’t forget the moment of walking onto the set and the sewers are there and the cistern. I couldn’t comprehend the scale of these sets. It felt like one of those hamster aquariums, but so well done. I was on the location scout and seeing where they’re going to set up Neibolt House and Derry. It was an experience I won’t forget.

SGS: I was 13 in the summer of 1989 in a small New England town. So watching 1989 come to life in a small New England town with those same bikes, those same posters, that was incredible to watch, to say nothing of the fact that oh my God, we’re building 29 Neibolt. We’re building the cistern. We’re building Bev’s bathroom. All these things, you’re watching it happen and you can’t believe you’re lucky enough to be a part of this.

DK: It was an extremely difficult shoot. It was all kids essentially and they had to go to school, and we were in Toronto, summer, 100 degrees, humidity, location.

SGS: The kids made it fun though. The kids made it fun because they were having fun. You can get caught up in the production blahs but the kids would show up and they’d do something stupid or just remind you how cool it was that we’re actually getting to make It.

They Haven’t Started Part Two Yet

GD: I think our part one is important. I don’t want to take anything away from them as adults too because they’re going through their own fears and dealing with their own issues. I didn’t do a rough draft where it’s like oh, is there a way we can crunch this all down into one movie. It helped reading that part and being familiar with what they grow into so you can make setups that maybe down the road can pay off later.

Halloween Horror Blu-rays: September

October is the perfect month to catch up on Halloween horror movies. Plenty of studios are opening their vaults to release classic Halloween horror titles on Blu-ray. It’s only September and there are already a ton of scary movies newly released. Here are some recommendations to start your Halloween horror viewing and I’ll have another batch of releases in October.

Cats EyeHalloween Horror: Cat's Eye

The ‘80s were a great time for Steven King short stories. We got two Creepshows and this trio of King tales. Maybe you like your Halloween horror in small doses. “Quitters, Inc.” demonstrates King’s expertise at tapping into very human fears, by coming up with something scarier than quitting smoking. “The Ledge” is a good old fashioned suspense tale with a clear goal, and plenty of obstacles along the way, or around the ledge if you will. “The General” has an Amblin feel as young Drew Barrymore’s cat defends her from a troll.

Although Cat’s Eye was released on DVD before, I’ve never seen it in widescreen and it looks positively epic. The picture is bright and smooth with the film elements restored well for HD. Seeing autumn in Wilmington, NC and 1980s Atlantic City are a time capsule. In “The Ledge” we see every specific spec in brick that nobody is supposed to be that close to, and Robert Hays’s sweat glimmers. Actually, James Woods’ sweat does too in “Quitters.” The troll costume in an oversized set is full of detail, even if the composited background doesn’t quite hold up. Director Lewis Teague gives an informative commentary that was also on previous releases.

Salem’s LotHalloween Horror: Salem's Lot

This was a TV movie so it is full frame, but it looks great. They must have restored the film elements like those Star Trek Blu-rays did. You can certainly see the grain. It makes me miss TV shot on film. The 4:3 frame actually works for scenes like jumping into a newly dug grave, and there are ‘80s freeze frames! I guess freeze frames came up in the ‘70s when Salem’s Lot was made.

Like good King, Salem’s Lot spends as much time, if not more, on character drama, not just the monsters. There are some awkward pauses, like there was no time for a second take, but it works. Director Tobe Hooper recorded a new commentary, but it’s a tad sparse as he tends to get right to the point and not vamp between scenes.

ItHalloween Horror: It

This Stephen King story really works on television because it’s not really gore or special effects. It’s just a clown. A really effing creepy clown. There are still a few money shots but director Tommy Lee Wallace is smart to cut away before we see too much. There are plenty of surreal images that still hold up, like the moon and Pennywise appearing behind branches like cracked glass. It is also a bigger ensemble and spans more cities before the characters come together in Derry.

Produced in 1990, It has even more modern looking clarity than Salem’s. The Canadian grass is bright green, substituting for Derry. The sewer is full of grimy detail. Flashbacks to the characters as children seem more grainy than the present, although not exclusively. The flashes of Pennywise gore is gooey and his changing teeth are effectively gross. HD really captures his bright white makeup and the spray of blood. An old commentary track includes the late John Ritter, and he was hilarious and deadpan.

SlugsHalloween Horror: Slugs

If you’re going to make a killer slug movie, Slugs is the killer slug movie you should make. They certainly thought of every possible way a slug could kill you, and quite a few that really wouldn’t work but they’re still fun. Attempts to have sincere dialogue, like a wife admitting she has a drinking problem, are endearing.

The Slugs Blu-ray has a beautiful ‘80s film look. You see the shiny slimy slugs, gory corpses, hand chopping and blood oozing in full HD. The blood is just pure crimson pouring liberally from corpses. A slug in the lettuce might be the grossest thing because it could be real.

Bonus features interview actors and behind the scenes personnel both in Spanish and English and they tell stories you’d expect. A commentary with the author of the book and another with filmmaker and Shock Til You Drop editor Chris Alexander keep things moving fast.

The Neon DemonHalloween Horror: The Neon Demon

Of course Nicolas Winding Refn’s surreal static images look amazing. Neon really means neon with glowing colored light. The dirty motel room is appropriately drab by comparison. Every extreme from a stark white photo studio to the dark black void is explored. When gore happens it’s deep and crusty.

Refn rightfully calls The Neon Demon a horror film because it is about the horrors we actually subject women to for the sake of our pleasure. The gory stuff that happens may just be a metaphor, but you’re going to have to decipher it for yourself. It’s highbrow Halloween horror.

Refn is surprisingly forthcoming on a commentary track with Elle Fanning, even though he says he’s only going to tell half the truth. He probably loosened up unexpectedly with the comfort of Fanning. The commentary is where you’ll get the most information. A five minute feature on the music is fine but a one minute collection of interview soundbites hardly qualifies as behind the scenes.

Aliens: 30th Anniversary EditionHalloween Horror: Aliens

This is the same release that was included in the full Alien Blu-ray set of four films, right down to the Weyland Yutani menu. The new bonus feature is digital only so there is literally nothing new on the disc. Unless you only want to own the one movie, which is conceivable.

The digital bonus feature is a solid 30 minutes of James Cameron reflecting on Aliens. Some of it may be familiar, but I don’t recall ever seeing Cameron focus this much on just Aliens stories. On other bonus features, he’s interspersed with cast and other creatives. This is the Aliens story entirely from his perspective.

Chopping Mall

I gave Chopping Mall a full review on its street date, but wanted to remind you to check out my review and please consider adding it to your Halloween horror movie nights. It’s cheesy ‘80s action fun and the closest to Die Hard in a mall I’ll probably ever get.